Family Ties
by LetsWriteNow
Summary: No child should go with out the love of a family, even a female clone of a half-ghost super hero. When Dani has a chance to experience what it is like to have a family she takes it. Little does she know, being excepted as a daughter and a sister will bring unexpected adventures. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is the beta-ed ****version! Yay! To those of you who don't know this is newest story and has NO connection to "When Odd Days Happen" outside that they are both in the same crossover section. Anyway everyone say thanks to my wonderful beta for looking threw this for me and I hope to have more something for you all soon. Oh right some editing of chapter 2 will happen within the near future so please be patient with me. Out side of that please review and have a good day!**

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Granger found themselves in a place that they never thought they would ever have to visit: Child Services. The never thought that because they were by all accounts good understanding parents. They even accepted the fact that magic was real and that there daughter was in fact a Witch and was sent off to a magical school of all things earlier that year. Luckily for them they weren't there for any personal transgressions against their daughter. They were there because an old friend had called, telling them to come over without really explaining much.

The same old friend was currently exiting the building to greet them. "Elsa! William! It's good to see you two!" she greeted the couple.

"It's good to see you too, Amy." Mrs. Granger, Elsa, greeted back. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Right. Sorry about the short call, I was really busy when I made it." Amy replied slightly embarrassed. "Anyway let's get inside, looks like it might start to rain."

Once inside Amy led them through several hallways before reaching her office. "Here we are, please take a seat." Once the Grangers did took a seat Amy started her explanation. "I have a favor to ask you two." she paused unsure how to say what needs to be said. "Um. You two are great parents, I mean Hermione's such a sweet heart and all… um… would you mind taking in a little girl?"

Caught completely off guard William replied, "Excuse me?"

"I know!" Amy replied knowing how absurd the request sounded. "Normally I wouldn't ask something like this from you, but... Look!" she quickly pulled a file from her desk and opening it for the couple. "This is Danielle Fenton." she said pointing to a picture of a young girl with black hair, blue eyes and couldn't be more than twelve.

Quickly reading over the file Mr. Granger asked, "Why doesn't it say her birthdate?" Noticing one of many blank spots in her profile.

"We don't know. Hell, even she doesn't know." Amy answered before continuing. "We think she's American, because of her accent, but we still couldn't find a birth certificate even after asking the American embassy for some help. The poor dear is a ghost."

"I hate to sound uncaring." Mrs. Granger started. "But why come to us? Why not take her to an orphanage or another family?"

Grimacing a bit, Amy replied. "Well. That's a bit of long story." Noting that the couple still wanted an explanation she relented. "It was hard enough to get her to stay put. She got away from us five times in the week we've had her in custody, and only recently have I got her to trust me." Scratching her cheek slightly embarrassed she continued, "Somehow she got me to promise that if I have to find her a family to go to that it would be a family that I personally trusted, and that would be you guys."

Trying to lay on the charm Amy continued, "Besides. I thought you two wanted more kids. And Hermione would probably appreciate a younger sister."

Raising an eye brow William asked, "Are you trying to get us to adopt her?"

Realizing that she may have overstepped her bounds Amy quickly back peddled, "No!" Then admitted with little shame, "At least not right away." Seeing there pointed looks Amy decided to play her last card, she begged. "Come on, Please. She's a real sweet heart that doesn't know what it's like to have a family. I think she deserves a chance at least."

Finding their social worker friend act like this was amusing for both William and Elsa, but they also knew they need to discuss this with each other. Excusing themselves form their friend's office they had their much needed discussion in the hall way in hush tones.

"What are your thoughts love?" William asked his wife.

"Frankly, I don't know." Elsa replied. "Amy is pretty desperate, and I do sympathies with the child's story."

Nodding William replied, "Or lack-there-of. But sad none the less."

"William? Do you think we should actually take her in?"

"I don't know." he replied. "We have talked about trying for another."

"But the doctors said that I might not be able to get pregnant again." Elsa commented. "Maybe this is a sign?"

"Maybe." William replied. After a moment of both of them contemplating he broke the silence. "We would be changing a young girl's life for the better."

Nodding Elsa replied "It would be the only right thing to do. Besides, we have room, and Hermione would most likely love a sister."

"She absolutely would." William agreed.

Turning back to the office the couple opened the door to find Amy crouched behind it trying to listen in on their conversation. Quickly standing up and smoothing out her dress skirt Amy waited patiently for an answer with an obvious blush. Smiling, Elsa gave the answer her friend was waiting for. "We'll do it."

* * *

Danielle "Dani" Fenton was not enjoying the ride through English suburbia with her social worker Amy. Frankly she had no idea how she got herself into this situation, albeit being found sleeping in a box certainly screamed "homeless child" pretty loud. That didn't explain how Amy and her colleague kept on finding her, she would fly away unseen then a hand full of hours later they would find her and drag her back to social services. Dani could appreciate the fact that Amy didn't want to put her into an orphanage, but the tenacity of the woman was even beyond that of most ghosts she knew. Finally Amy sat her down and talked. They didn't talk about anything really, they just talked. It was sometime during the talk that Danielle and Amy struck the deal that if Amy could find a truly trustworthy family Dani would stop running away.

Dani didn't ever think that a week and a half later she would be meeting her first foster family. "Nervous?" Amy asked from the driver's seat.

"Yeah." Dani murmured mentally acknowledging the understatement. This was an entirely new experience for her. Give her monstrous ghosts, crazy "fathers", and almost melting into goop any day. Meeting people who could possibly become her actual parents, without devious motives behind the act, she had no idea how to react. Sad part for her, she couldn't even think to break the promise. Dani figured it had something to do with Danny, her original. Maybe the hero complex was genetic? Even without the promise hanging over her head she had to admit she was curious. Curious on how it felt to have a family, people who would love her that weren't the boy she was cloned from. To be a normal girl, that was a completely foreign idea to the young half-ghost.

Dani was knocked out of her thoughts when Amy said, "We're here." Looking out of the car Dani saw that they were pulling up on a nice looking house with an average looking couple, her prospective parents, standing just outside of their door. She could see soft smiles on both of their faces. As Amy got out of the car to let her out (stupid child locks) Dani could only steel herself for whatever may come. To meet her new parents.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty then! By popular demand coupled with a few threats to my well being, this story will be continued! On another note, the poll that will decide the fate of my first story "An Act of Remembrance" will be up until _Tomorrow!_ Be sure to vote last minute. Also this chapter is not beta-ed yet so be nice about spelling/grammar issues please. Don't forget to Review and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It has been months since Dani was taken in by William and Elsa Granger. If she had to be frank with her self, living with a family was something she really didn't know what to feel about. A roof over her head was definitely nice, she even had her own room. The Grangers provided her with new fresh cloths so she could finally change out of that old sweatshirt and baggy pants combo. She couldn't forget the fact that she had access to hot showers every day which was a heaven sent gift in her eyes.

There were also some things that she wished she could go without, namely school. Not even a week after she moved in and got situated the Grangers enrolled her in a local school. It wasn't like she was having trouble with it, if there was one thing Vlad made sure to include when he made her was smarts. It was all part of the cloning process to implant knowledge so that they could function, sadly she was the only one stable enough for the implanting to stick. Dani figured she has about a early high school education, so the class she was assigned to was a tad on the easy side. Another thing about school was the people that went there as well. Apparently Danny's bully problem was also genetic. Within the months following her enrollment she had gotten into four fights, the streets taught her to be tough and she was never one to take any gruff. As it stood because of that she got suspended for a week and a talking to from William and Elsa.

In any case she was forced to practically promise not to get into anymore fights, so she took to just avoiding the oddly persistent bullies. She even used her powers to her advantage by turning invisible, slipping through walls, or even flying to the roof once. Over all she had an odd appreciation for her cousin now, him somehow surviving school and being a super hero all at once.

Another problem that wasn't really a problem was the fact that Dani didn't have a connection with the Grangers. It wasn't like they were bad people or anything, in fact they were some of the most understanding people Dani had ever met. Its more along the lines that she knows them as William and Elsa, not Mom and Dad. They were great people but Dani just didn't really see them as her parents, more like friends letting her stay over. Albeit, Dani did realize that the vital connection of parents and child will most likely develop after a longer period of time than a mere hand full of months.

As she lay there in her room starring at the ceiling these thoughts ran through her mind, and not for the first time. And like the other times, the thoughts brought more thoughts to the surface. If one of her more major problems is a connection with her prospective family, then why didn't she stay with Danny? And once again she answered that question. Whilst yes she did have an intimate relationship with Danny, who risked his life to help her twice now. Once from herself when she was still with Vlad, and the second time he saved her form being reduced to ectoplasmic slime. He was family to her, a older brother or, as weird as it was to admit, the closest thing to a father she ever really had. William was trying, but he was still just William. Sometimes she would imagine what it would be like if she had stayed with Danny after all. Danny would be her older brother, or "cousin" as they call each other, and he would make up some story for her for his parents so she could stay.

And that was why she left. Not because of the Fentons or anything, but because everything would be through Danny. She knew that being compared to others was annoying, especially to a older sibling and that would happen to her if only because Danny and her were so similar. She was engineered to be a exact copy of Danny with a few Fruit-loop approved tweaks. She wanted to find herself, to figure out what _she _didn't like, what _she_ enjoyed, who _she _was. As it stood she felt like she was still just a copy of Danny, that she has nothing that she could say was _her._ Her love for space comes from Danny. Her lack of regard for the rules came form Vlad's machinations. Heck even her _name_ was just the female version of "Daniel". Everything about her is just copied from Danny or made by Vlad. Her ghostly color scheme, her powers, her freaking transformation isn't even unique to her. She has the same powers as Danny to one degree or another and the energy control of Vlad. The only things that she could even begin to count towards what is _her_ is that she was technically weaker than Danny by a raw power stand point, and that she like yogurt. Why yogurt? In general it was cheep and good for her.

Dani sat up with a sigh once her thoughts started to get less focussed. That train of thought would come around in her head every week or so. She knew that it was dreadfully depressing, yet it also worked for her to confirm why she was there in the first place. Looking out of her window she saw that night had fallen while she was thinking and figured she could go for a quick flight around town, again something she got from Danny. She was about to act on the impulse when she spotted a calendar she hung in her room, another novelty she didn't have on the streets where she could've gone weeks without knowing the date. Marked in plain sight was something that Dani was extremely nervous about. Hermione was coming home in three days.

Dani didn't know what to think when she found out that she had a prospective sister until eventually she settled on nervous. The Grangers said that they already sent a letter to Hermione at her boarding school in scotland. As happy as she was that she wasn't going to be a complete surprise, she had a feeling that the first meeting will be extremely awkward. Dani was sure that Hermione would be nice enough, considering who her parents are, but Dani has minimal interactions with other people. On the streets a certain suspicion of people was considered healthy and at school she spent a lot of time avoiding bullies and has only managed to make acquaintances at best. In short Dani knew that not even a delusional person would call her a social butterfly. Not only that but she didn't know a lot about Hermione. The teachers at her school remembered her because she was supposedly extremely smart. William and Elsa didn't help in that regard ether. From pictures around the house showed a girl with long bushy hair and large front teeth.

The familiar feeling of nervous nausea put the idea of flying out of her mind. Besides, Dani reasoned, it was getting late and her last day of school before the summer break was the next day so she probably needed to sleep. Sadly her dreams were filled with visions of Hermione ranging her being a chittering nerd, a crippling shy girl, to an overly bossy demon with a superiority complex.

* * *

"Those three days went by too fast."

"What was that Danielle?" asked William not catching Dani's mumbled words.

"Nothing." Dani replied surprised she spoke aloud. William and Dani were sitting in the living room waiting for Elsa and Hermione to come home. Dani was relieved that they weren't going to take her to Kings Cross Train Station to pick up and meet Hermione sparing her a awkward ride home. Her relief was short lived however because she was still going to meet the final member of the Granger family.

"Nervous?" William asked noticing Dani turning steadily green.

"That obvious?"

"Yes. Painfully so in fact." William closed the book he was reading to fully address Danielle. "There is nothing to be worried about. It may be a bit awkward at first, but I'm sure you two will get along swimmingly."

"Right." was all Dani could say. She still didn't know anything about her perspective sister outside what the Grangers had told her, and parents are obligatory required to be biased about their kids.

As the minutes ticked by Dani only got more stressed out, altho she hid it well. She was about ready to finally snap when the sound of a car pulling up alerted her that the moment she was waiting for had finally come. Despite herself Dani quickly tried to make herself more presentable despite having done so that morning. Not much she could really do with a T-shirt, jeans and socks.

Dani stilled as the front door opened. Time seemed to slow down as Elsa walked in first followed by a mass of frizzled hair dragging in a trunk that could only be Hermione.

Hermione paused upon seeing Dani. Thankfully Hermione took the initiative and broke the silence by walking forward and introducing her self. "Hello. I'm Hermione. You must be Danielle."

"Um. Yeah, but call me Dani, spelled with an 'I'." Dani said almost reflexively. Sadly the awkward silence returned after that. What were they suppose to talk about when they meet for the first time?

"Well now." Elsa said coming to the rescue "Hermione, why don't you go unpack?"

"Alright." Hermione replied silently relieved to not be there anymore. Dani couldn't blame her for leaving so quickly, the awkwardness was truly stifling.

"It'll get better." William said drawing Dani's attention.

"Right." Dani replied hoping that that was the case.

* * *

As it turned out it did get better as far as the awkward moments were concerned. The jury was still out on whether that was a good thing in Dani's opinion. As they got used to each other they also started to learn each others quirks, like how Hermione was a strait laced know-it-all. Dani didn't even remember what it was, but Hermione corrected her about something in a way that rubbed Dani the wrong way. Hermione didn't approve of the fact that Dani was borderline a delinquent. Dani blamed the gossip crazed neighbors, yet it was still Hermione who saw it fit to give her a talking to about how she should find a better solution to her problems. To sum it up, for about a month Dani was steadily doubting whether or not she could live with the girl.

It wasn't just Hermione's personality that irked Dani, it was the fact that it seemed that the family was keeping a secret. Dani knew she shouldn't even be bothered by it with her own closet full of skeletons, yet her own experiences with liars and fruit-loops made her suspicious. It didn't help that Hermione and her parents sometimes had arguments that didn't really make sense. Like one time when Dani had woken up for some reason and overheard the Grangers having a hushed argument about how Hermione shouldn't take "the easy way" out of having to wear braces. It didn't make sense because Dani was pretty sure that there wasn't a easy way out of that. There was also Hermione's summer homework. She was extremely careful not to have Danielle see it; ever.

Yet even with all the bad there also came good. Hermione was a nice person when she wasn't correcting something or lecturing about right and wrong. It was evident that Hermione was trying to be a sisterly figure to Dani, and Dani appreciated the sentiment at least. But to Dani a sentiment was all it was, there just wasn't enough there for Dani to truly see the Grangers as family despite their efforts.

Worst of all, as more time past Dani continued to feel like an interloper. An intruder upon this normal family. An outsider looking in. She didn't truly know why she felt this way. Most likely the fact that their interactions with each other seemed so natural whilst Dani didn't know how to react to familial situations at all.

One day Dani took a quick stroll to a near by park in an attempt to organize her thoughts. She felt it was time to make a decision, whether to stay or to go. On one hand, it was painfully obvious that the Grangers were trying to be at the very least like family to her, and she liked them well enough. On the other hand, Dani still didn't see them as her parents and sister, and she wasn't sure if giving it time was the answer. At most she felt that she would just be a friend staying over night for a long time, and that eventually she would inevitably overstay her welcome.

Having made it to the park without making a final decision Dani continued to debate with herself while sitting on a swing. With no one around it made a good place to make an important decision.

"There you are." someone said out of Dani's line of sight causing her to nearly transform to defend herself. Thankfully she turned to see who it was before turning to see that it was Hermione. "You've been gone for a while so I figured I come check on you."

"Um, right." was Dani's reply unsure what to say about that. "How did you know I would be here?"

"I asked Mum and Dad. They said that you like to come here sometimes."

Well that would explained that "Um. right. What do you want?" Dani said trying her hardest to make it sound not rude.

Apparently taking it well Hermione answered "When you left you had this odd look. And I was just a bit worried."

Sighing Dani replied "Thanks Hermione. But I just need to think a bit." Dani saw that Hermione did get the hint. "Alone."

Ignoring Danielle's request Hermione suggested "You know if you have something on your mind you could always talk to me about it."

"Not really." Dani said turning away.

Feeling concerned Hermione pressed on "Come on now. I'm sure I can help with anything you have on your mind."

"I don't think so..."

"Well we wouldn't know unless you said something."

"I said no!" Dani finally snapped. Every thing bubbling to the surface at once in the form of anger Dani continued to yell at the older girl. "You don't know _anything_ about me! Who are you to say anything Miss Strait-laced-know-it-all!" Before long Danielle stopped yelling with tears threatening to spill over.

For a moment neither spoke until Hermione spoke up now upset as well. "I would know at least something if you would tell me anything! I was only trying to help!"

Tears now rolling down her cheeks Dani replied "You just want to help? Fine. See if you can help with the fact that the one person I have ever called 'Father' saw me and my brothers as nothing more than objects! Tools to use to get what he wants, stepping stones for his goals! help me figure out why I ran away from the only person ever to care about me! Help me..." she paused to catch her breath, loosing a lot of her fire in the process. "Help me to trust people enough to have a family."

To Dani's surprise Hermione embraced her in a comforting hug. Not knowing what else to do Dani simply sobbed into her shoulder having lost all control over herself. After several minutes holding the sobbing girl in her arms, sympathetic tears of her own threatening to fall, Hermione said "I am so sorry."

"No." Dani said as she pulled away wiping away her tears. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault my past is so messed up."

Another awkward pause came between them before Hermione said "Now that its out in the open... would you like to talk about it?" She hopped she didn't just cross a line.

Drained of emotions for the time being, Dani nodded "I guess."

The two sat down under a nearby tree before Hermione asked "You said you had a father? I thought you didn't remember your family."

"Thats what you get for assuming." Dani said with a slight laugh. "And he wasn't really my father, not really. The Fruit-loop is a person that I doubt knows what it is to love another thing." she said with a scowl before her expression turned down cast. "And before you ask, my brothers are... No longer around."

"Oh." Hermione replied having been about to ask about that. Instead she asked "Um, who was the other person you talked about?"

"Right. He's my cousin, or at least thats what we called each other. He's the reason I'm still alive today, and where I get my last name 'Fenton'."

"I see. Why didn't you stay with him?" Hermione asked before quickly adding "If you don't mind me asking."

"Good question." Dani replied. "I didn't want to cause him trouble. In any case he's the reason I got away from Vlad in the first place."

"Vlad?"

"My 'Father'." Dani replied embarrassed by the slip. "Because of Vlad, I think I forgot how to truly trust someone else." Dani said shocking herself at the revelation.

"You can trust me." Hermione said. "You can trust my parents...No, our parents. We will not hurt you like he did. I promise."

"Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment." Dani said even as a smile spread across her face.

"Excuse me ladies." said a voice breaking the comfortable silence and drawing the girls attention to a scraggly looking man walking towards them. "I was wondering if you could help me find a lost puppy?"

The question raised all kinds of alarm bells in Dani's head and she hoped Hermione's smarts covered situations like this.

"I'm sorry sir." Hermione began. "We would love to help but we're due home now. If we see anything we'll be sure to tell you." Hermione then helped Danielle up and they started to leave the man behind.

"But... Wait, I'll make it worth your while..." the man began.

"If you say you 'got candy' I'll make you sing soprano. Back off!" Dani said aggressively before continuing on her way.

"Wha? Why you little..." The man rushed forward grabbing Dani by the shoulder and Hermione by the wrist. Dani moved the instant she registered that the man had a hold of her, she rammed her elbow into the man's forearm forcing him to let go in the same movement she raised her leg to slam the heel of her right foot into the mans jaw. As the man recoiled Dani idly took notice that the mans right hand was smoking slightly, but couldn't care as both she and Hermione started to run.

The man was tougher than he let on. He quickly recovered and caught up with the fleeing girls grabbing Hermione my the hair forcing Dani, who had drawn ahead, to turn back to attack the man. A kick to the kidney forced the man to let go of Hermione, but he then turned around and struck Dani hard enough to send her sprawling. Dani could feel her eyes burn green as she started to get up, and she new that unless she changed things were going down hill quick.

As she started to reach for that part of her that wasn't quite human an other voice grabbed her attention. "Don't move or I'll put a bloody bullet through your head!"

Looking up Dani knew that it was to good to be true. Yet there it was, a police officer holding the man down, with a knee in the back and night stick across the throat.

"Are you ok?" asked the second officer looking over Dani with concern.

After that everything went by extremely fast. An ambulance came to check over the girls for injures which Hermione was unscathed and Dani had a slight cut from when the man had struck her, luckily it didn't require stitches. By the time the paramedics finished looking them over Mr. and Mrs. Granger had came speeding in to collect the girls. Not before smothering both in protective hugs and kisses.

"Thank God you're both safe!" Elsa almost sobbed with William trying to keep her from breaking down.

"It was thanks to Dani, actually." provided Hermione still shaking slightly from the experience. "She reacted faster than I could even blink, its because of her that we were able to get away long enough for the police to come in."

"Where did they come from anyway?" Dani asked off handedly.

"We were walking a beat when we saw you two try to escape." answered the police officer that had tackled the creep as he walked up to the family. "You have some good reaction young lady."

"Thanks." Dani answered embarrassed.

Turning to William and Elsa the officer said "The creep will be going to prison after we get him check out of the hospital, you have my word on that."

"Why would he need to go there?" Dani asked. "I didn't think I hit him that hard."

This earned a laugh from the officer as he answered "He has a nasty burn on his hand." This caused Mr. and Mrs Granger to shoot quick glances at Hermione. "Something like that needs to be taken care of or he risk infection, and we want him to stoop in a cell for a nice long time."

"Thank you Officer." William said shanking the policeman's hand.

"Of corse Sir. Ma'am." The officer nodded to William and Elsa before walking off.

"Now lets get home and get this whole ordeal behind us." William suggested to the agreement of everyone. As she was escorted to the car that William and Elsa arrived in Dani felt a nice warm feeling in her chest. As the car started on its short drive home, Dani figured she could stay a bit longer.

* * *

**OK. About that argument…. I will be the first one to admit that I find writing arguments hard, so if it seems forced…. Sorry. And note that I wrote this chapter in the week time span that the poll is still up so the next thing will probably be about AAOR. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright! Record Time (not really) to get a new chapter out after posting another new chapter! We'll see if I can still keep pumping out chapters at a fast(er) speed than what I normally do. Wish me luck on that everyone. Now on to the chapter! Please review and take a look at my other stories.**

* * *

It was starting to drive Dani crazy. Two weeks after the whole deal with the creep in the park the Grangers managed to readjust to how they normally were. In the sense that they weren't being over protective, all in all a normal parent reaction but Dani and Hermione both agreed that it was quickly becoming overbearing. Yet with the normalcy came back the obvious presence of some type of secret. Dani wasn't sure if it was because she was so paranoid or if the Grangers just didn't know how to really keep a secret, but she didn't miss the strange things they did on occasion. Like whenever Hermione went to do her summer homework she would always be careful of where Dani was, or when the family was talking in hushed whispers about things that got the bushy haired girl excited that would always stop the moment she got closer, or the fact that Hermione had a really hard time talking about her friends to her even though the topic should be neutral enough. Dani didn't have much to go on as far as how families work but this defiantly seemed odd. She could even swear that they even started to plan something, the blamed the Danny in her but she found it really hard to ignore.

Overall Dani found it hard to not spy on them whilst invisible. In fact the only thing that was preventing her from doing so was the simple fact that this one big secret seemed to be the only such thing for the Grangers. Going off of past experiences she figured one big skeleton was better than a whole necropolis waiting behind the closet door. So for the time being she forced herself to swallow the suspicion and just try to enjoy the summer holiday. Which was by far more enjoyable since her little blow up in the park. For one, Dani defiantly had a bit more respect for Hermione now, even after letting out snippets of her rather messed up past Hermione didn't say a word about it to William or Elsa. When asked about this Hermione replied, "Well. It's not my place to tell anyone about it. It wouldn't be right now would it?" Of course this line was followed by Hermione offering to listen if Dani ever needed to talk and that her parents would help in any way they could as well, and Dani promptly told her that it was a long time ago and she was way beyond it at that point. The topic was still brought up when the two are alone every now and then but Dani figured that was a given.

A knock on her bedroom door violently kicked Dani out of her thoughts before Elsa opened the entry way, "Dani, could you come out to the lounge please." Elsa asked the startled girl.

"Ok. Just a sec Elsa." Dani replied. Getting up from her spot on the bed Dani made her way to the living room to see what Elsa needed.

"Surprise!" Dani jumped three feet into the air when the Grangers yelled that upon her entry into the room. After taking a brief moment to calm herself down Dani also took notice that the living room was decorated in streamers, and balloons. Dani couldn't figure out why the Grangers would throw a party. She was still trying to figure it out as she was led by Hermione to take a seat with the family.

A moment after she was seated her brain started to work enough for Dani to ask "Um. What's the occasion?" The first answer she got was gentle smiles from everyone else.

"It's a birthday party." Hermione explained. "Yours in particular."

"What?" Dani asked not really understanding what was going on.

This time it was William who spoke up, "Considering no one, including you, knew when you were born I went out and got this." William pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Danielle.

Opening the envelope she started to look through the papers that were within. Even with the knowledge implants that Vlad put into her she wasn't really sure what she was looking at. At least until she spotted the words adoption. "Are these adoption papers?"

Nodding, Elsa started to explain, "William went down to child services earlier and made all of it official. You are now legally part of this family. That is, if you agree to the adoption."

Dani couldn't believe her ears, at this point she was almost convinced that it was all a dream. "It doesn't explain the birthday thing." She stated robotically.

"It's all part of it. No one knew when you were born so we, ourselves and the child service people, sort of figured out one. Legally you're twelve years old as of today." William explained.

Now Dani knew she was dreaming. There was no way that the situation she found herself was real. Shaking her head she said, "I'm dreaming aren't I? This has got to be a dream."

"This is no dream Dani." Hermione stated smiling at her new sister. All at once Dani's brain started to fully process what was happening. This wasn't a dream. She was adopted by the Grangers, officially part of the family. They even gave her an actual birthday.

Holy crap.

They gave her a birthday. She was pretty sure if she was anyone else, under any other circumstance, she would be insulted. Should be insulted. But she was grown in a test tube. Dani didn't keep track when she first woke up in Vlad's lab so she never really thought much about a birthday sense she wasn't really born. A warm fussy feeling bloomed in her chest as she thought about it, the Grangers gave her something that no one else really could, something she didn't even think she would want. Thinking back, Dani tried to remember what day it was.

The fifteenth. The fifteenth of July. That was her birthday. Tears came unbidden to Dani's eyes as the implications of everything came crashing into her. Even as she tried to wipe away the joyful tears she was nodding. After a moment to collect herself, Dani said with a watery voice, "Yes. I agree to the adoption." An instant she was enveloped by the embrace of her new family.

* * *

An hour and a half after Dani found out that William and Elsa, her parents, formally adopted her she was still overjoyed. A real family to call her own. She was now Danielle Fenton-Granger! Her smile didn't seem to leave her face once she stopped shedding her happy tears. Of course this didn't stop sobering thought to enter her mind. She didn't feel like an intruder any longer yet she still couldn't see William and Elsa as Mom and Dad. The adoption helped her overall perception of the family, a place to be with them so to speak. Yet it would take time to form that special family tie with the Grangers.

She was slightly more worried that her past would end up catching up to her. Vlad was still out there, despite being months sense she seen anything of Vlad or his goons on her trail she doubted that he gave up after her last encounter with the fruit-loop. Sadly there was nothing she could do about the situation, she already agreed to the adoption, the only thing she could do now was be ready if something does happen. Besides, it was her birthday. Legally at least. She should afford to act like a kid.

As far as the party went it was pretty small, just herself and her adoptive family, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. It was also the first time she had cake, which was store bought and delicious. Overall it was one of the best days of her short life, up there with being stabilized and being able to pummel Vlad a bit.

Smiling even wider at the thought Dani took one last bite of cake before noticing what looked like a quiet, albeit heated, discussion happening between the other three Grangers. Dani could feel her mood darken as she recognized the type of discussion it was, she had seen it before. They weren't even being subtle about it, so considering that she had to guess that whatever it was they were thinking of letting her in on it; with some reluctance.

"Are you guy's part of the mob or something?" Dani asked the group figuring they would tell her if she asked. "Because for you to wait to tell me some big secret after I you guys adopt me can only be a few things."

To say they were speechless would be an understatement. Hermione was the first to recover, "W-what do you mean?"

"You guys are really bad at keeping secrets, or at least keeping it a secret that you have a secret. So spill." Dani deadpanned. She could almost see their thoughts rushing around their heads as they look at each other in shock.

Finally William admitted, "We were going to tell you."

As he paused Elsa continued, "But with everything you found out today we thought that we should hold off on it, and..."

This time it was Hermione who took over, "We would've told you before but we couldn't..."

William picked up the conversation again, "Because..."

All three of them finished in unison, "It's complicated."

Personally Dani found how they were trying to break the news to her was hilarious to the point of having to hold back her laughter, luckily she had a really good poker-face. Or so she thought as her mirth cracked through a moment after they finished. Finally she gave up and laughed. Her mirth caused William, Elsa, and Hermione to join in as they realized how they were acting.

After several moments of merriment they all managed to rein in their mirth before Hermione admitted, "Sorry for that. It's just we didn't think we were being obvious about it." Her point was reinforced by a nodding William and Elsa.

"Right, right. It's been driving me crazy so can someone please tell me what the big secret is?" Dani requested.

To her mild surprise Hermione was the one who answered, "Well it's actually my secret, although Mum and Dad know about it. Now first you have to understand that we would have told you sooner if it were legal."

"Legal?" Dani asked before Hermione could continue. Maybe she wasn't all that far off with the Mob comment.

"I'll get to that in a moment." Hermione paused as she tried to figure out how to explain if her expression was any judge. "I suppose being direct about it would be best." She paused again before taking a deep breath, "I'm a Witch."

"You're into that new age stuff? How is that illegal?" Dani asked. As she saw it that was a little odd but she's seen stranger stuff.

Hermione was not expecting that response, "Um, N-no. I mean I can use Magic, make things float, change something into something completely different, Hexes, Curses... Things like that." Dani didn't say anything as she looked at Hermione oddly. It wasn't long under that look before a thought came to her mind, "Two minutes." Before anyone could react Hermione bolted for her room. A minute later she reappeared carrying a hand full of books and other miscellaneous things, the fact she could carry it all was actually pretty impressive. Setting everything on the table she handed Dani one of the books. It read Basic book of spells: Grade One. Opening the book she quickly started to scan through it flipping through the pages. She caught glances of odd words that when read sound kind of like Latin, proper pronunciation for said words, as well of other things that didn't really make much sense. Although the book was put together in a recognizable way.

"Is this a Text book?" Dani asked as she closed the book.

"Actually, yes it is." Hermione answered. "It's from my school, Hogwarts."

"So the boarding school you go to teaches Magic, and is called Hogwarts?" This was starting to get bizarre, even more so than Dani was used to.

"If you still don't believe me then look at this." Hermione said handing Dani what looked like a newspaper, the only difference was that the pictures were moving. Dani could only stare at the pictures her brain refusing to believe what it was seeing, until one part of her brain reminded the other part that she was in fact a clone of a half-ghost and was a halfa herself. Not believing magic was real would be foolish of her.

"Ok so you're magic... Why go through all this instead of just showing me something?" Dani asked.

"Well... I can't. I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school until I'm of age at seventeen. And we couldn't tell you until now because the Statute of Secrecy makes it illegal to do magic in front of Muggles, non-magic folk, unless it's an emergency or if they're close relations." By the time she finished Hermione had to catch her breath, giving Dani time to process everything.

One: magic is real. Two: her adoptive sister has magic. Three: in hindsight this probably isn't the craziest thing she's found herself in. Looking to William and Elsa Dani asked, "Why haven't I seen anything else like this?"

"Oh. We're... Muggles. Hermione is the first one in our family to have magic." William answered understanding what Dani meant by her question.

"I must admit you're taking this pretty well." Elsa said.

"Eh. I've seen some pretty weird things before coming here. So what's magic, right?" Dani answered while scratching the back of her head in a nervous habit he got from Danny.

The family continued to discuss about the revelations that were shared that day for about an hour before they were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. "I'll get it." Hermione volunteered before standing and temporarily leaving the conversation. Opening the door Hermione was surprised who she found standing at the entryway.


	4. Chapter 4

**This should've been out a week ago. I have no excuses. Anyway, sorry for the short length I was kind of at a low point motivation/other stuff wise. Frankly I'm just glad I got this chapter out. As always check out my other stories, you can find them on my profile; and please leave a review. Enjoy.**

* * *

Dani's day just continued to get stranger. First the Grangers surprise her with a birthday party as well as a date for said event. Then they reveal that William and Elsa had officially adopted her into the family. And then Dani finds out that the big family secret was that Hermione could use Magic. Finally a random stern older woman came to visit much to the surprise to the Grangers. Dani supposed that her visiting wasn't the most odd thing about the encounter, but the fact that she was wearing a robe instead of normal clothes was defiantly odd. All things considered the old woman's hat should've tipped Dani off who and what she was a lot sooner than it did.

"Professor McGonagall, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked once she opened the door to the now identified McGonagall.

"Well hello to you too Miss. Granger." McGonagall answered causing Hermione to blush slightly.

"I'm sorry. Would you like to come in?" Hermione apologized.

"Only for a little while, then I must be on my way." McGonagall answered as she stepped into the house. The Professor quickly observed the room's festive decor as Hermione returned to her parents and Dani's side.

"To what do we owe this pleasure Professor?" William asked, curious as to why the older woman decided to visit.

"Nothing much. I'm just making my yearly rounds delivering Hogwarts letters to Muggle-Borns and this was my next stop." McGonagall answered handing Hermione her Hogwarts letter.

"Um... Professor I already know about the Wizarding World, shouldn't I get my Hogwarts letters by owl now?" Hermione asked.

"Normally you would be correct." McGonagall answered. "Yet since I had to come here in any case I found it more efficient to bring you your letter as well." With that, and to the shock of everyone in the room McGonagall tuned and handed a second letter to Dani. Taking the envelope Dani took a moment to piece together the implications of receiving the same type of letter Hermione received.

"Are you saying that I have Magic?" Dani asked looking at McGonagall with a carefully blank expression.

Letting a slight smile grace her lips Professor McGonagall answered "Yes, you have Magic. You are a Witch Miss. Fenton."

Danielle took a minute to let this latest revelation sink in. McGonagall and the Grangers just waited letting the young girl absorb the new information. Yet as it turned out Dani managed to process this new information relatively quickly "I don't believe you." Dani said completely deadpan, much to the surprise of everyone. William and Elsa shared a bewildered look, Hermione looked scandalized by the blunt response directed towards a teacher, and McGonagall looked like she couldn't comprehend what she had heard.

"Pardon?" McGonagall managed to reply still seeming to question the reality of the situation.

Dani for her part managed to look slightly embarrassed. "Sorry. It came out wrong."

"What do you mean you don't believe her?" Hermione said finally able to form words. "I showed you the moving pictures and my text books!"

"Right." Dani replied looking towards her new sister. "I believe that Magic exists, you've shown me that much." Turning back to McGonagall she continued. "I just don't think _I_ have Magic."

"But you wouldn't have gotten a letter unless you had Magic!" Hermione explained.

Dani glanced back at her and countered "However they find people that have Magic is made by People. People make mistakes, so whatever they used to figure out if someone has Magic is not infallible." Much to her chagrin Hermione couldn't think of a adequate counter argument.

Luckily McGonagall interrupted having found her footing "Ah yes. As well spoken your argument is Miss. Fenton, the Trace is rarely mistaken." McGonagall reaching into her robes and extracted a small length of wood. "Yet I believe that you would need more proof than my reassurances." Showing everyone the length of wood Mcgonagall continued "This is a Toy Wand, meant for magical children to get a head start on controlling their Magic. It responds to Magic, a Muggle, someone who doesn't have Magic, wouldn't be able to get it to work. For example Mrs. Granger if you would care to demonstrate?"

Taking the offered item Elsa hesitated for a moment before giving the wand a wave to the result of absolutely nothing. With a shrug Elsa handed over the toy wand to Dani, who examined the length of wood with a doubtful expression. Finding that it look like any other piece of polished wood Dani sighed and waved the wand. Unlike with Elsa the wand reacted by shooting multi-colored sparks in a miniatured fireworks display.

"Uh. What?" Dani asked as eloquently as possible as her brain attempted to process what just happened. Hermione was saying something that Dani couldn't bring herself to actually register as she tried to puzzle through what had just happened. Normally Dani would still be skeptical about the whole impromptu test, if only because there was Magic involved and any results would in theory be easily faked, but when she waved that small piece of wood she felt something. It could be the fact that she's almost hyper aware of meta-physical affects that happen with in her body thanks to the fact that she had to constantly exert some type of control over her ghost powers. Never the less she felt a unknown energy from the place that she recognized held her ghost energy when not in use react to her using the toy wand. The energy was completely foreign to her and the fact that it came from her baffled her mind to the point that she was having trouble getting her thoughts straight.

"Danielle, are you all right?" Hermione asked suddenly breaking Dani from her thoughts.

"Hm? Yeah I'm good. I was just caught off guard a bit." Dani replied with an embarrassed smile for having been caught zoning out. "Where's the professor?" She asked noticing the older Witch's absence.

"She left a while ago." Hermione answered with a worried look.

Dani blinked. "Right. I was caught off guard more than a bit... You know, I think I'm going to go to my room and... Think a bit. Yeah, I need to think."

As she retreated to her room Dani could practically feel the worried look Hermione was giving her. Yet Hermione didn't follow to try to pry or push the issue, which Dani was thankful for. For the birthday girl the day ended much as it had started, with Dani laying in her bed staring up at the ceiling alone with her thoughts. Despite the fact that she's been finding herself doing this more often, Dani felt that it was understandable considering all the changes her life had gone through lately. Of course she now had Magic to add to that list of changes.

To Dani, her having magic seemed a bit asinine especially considering she already had a nice set of supernatural powers that she was already used to. Hell, her having magic didn't even make sense by any stretch of logic. Dani might not have been in existence for very long but all things considered she would have noticed if she had powers that weren't connected with her ghost powers. Also considering who she was cloned from how could she have magic? Danny never showed any signs of having something like that, excluding bing Half-Ghost. How does one even have or obtain Magic?

A knock at her door brought Dani out of her thoughts "Danielle, may I come in?" Hermione's voice asked through the door.

"Yeah sure, come on in." Dani replied with a sigh. A moment later she felt Hermione sit on her bed.

A slightly awkward silence descended upon the two girls for a moment before Hermione finally spoke. "You seem to be taking this a bit hard."

"Which bit? The adoption, the birthday, or the magic?" Dani said some what moodily.

"I thought you were happy." Hermione stated taken back by Danielle's tone.

Realizing how she probably sounded Dani sighed "I am happy about the adoption and stuff... It's just a lot to take in." Glancing at her window Dani noticed that night had fallen and added "A lot more than I first thought."

Hermione nodded "I think I can see that. I mean, I can imagine."

"I don't think you can." Dani mumbled before continuing "A hand full of months ago I was just able to survive, then suddenly your parents let me live here as a foster kid. Then out of the blue they take me into the family proper? It's insane and only now starting to sink in to be completely honest." Dani ran a hand though her hair before continuing. "Lets not forget about the fact that I apparently have Magic. How do you even get Magic anyway?"

Hermione shot a funny look at the younger girl before answering. "You don't obtain Magic. You're born with it."

"You sure about that?" Dani asked skeptically.

"Yes. Magic normally passed down family lines, like hair or eye color but sometimes you get people like me that don't have any magical relatives but have magic anyway. Of corse the other way also applies with people who have magical parents not having magic."

"So... Its genetic, but also completely random?" Dani asked confused before shaking her head.

"I'm actually kind of confused, you seem to be having trouble with the fact that you have Magic."

"You make it sound like its something that should be easy to accept."

"Well, normally it explains a lot of things. Before being trained a Witch or Wizard's Magic reacts towards their desires and emotions. It could whisk you away from a dangerous situation, or simply conjure up homework that you misplaced."

"I don't remember anything like that happening to me, and I've been in plenty of situations where something like that would have been handy." Technically true, anything supernatural Dani did was because of her ghost powers not because of some deus machina something or other. Not to say that she never had miracles happen to her but those were because of other people and not Magic.

Hermione really didn't know what to say about that as her sisters past was always a bit of a touchy subject. Danielle didn't really go into much detail about it plus... "Oh my gosh. I have a sister now."

That single line caused the mood in the room to do a complete one-eighty as Dani snorted. "Looks like it's finally sunk in for you too."

"Y-yeah. I think I understand your reaction a little better." Hermione replied and Dani showed she agreed with a knowing nodding of her head.

"Hits like a freight train doesn't it."

"Yes but it sneaks up on you."

The two sat there in a comfortable silence before Hermione decided to break the silence "Well. I'm sure we'll both get used to the sibling thing. And I'm positive that you'll defiantly get used to the idea of Magic."

"Right. Forgive me if I don't start calling you 'Sis' in the near future." Dani said.

"Fair enough. Friends first?"

"Friends first."

"Excellent. Now Mum and Dad are making plans to go to Diagon Alley soon and you'll get your first taste of the Wizarding community." Hermione said with a grin.

With her mood looking finally looking up Dani replied "Alright seeing new things is good. Now I do want to talk about Magical naming conventions, because what type of name is Hogwarts?"


	5. Chapter 5

**So… I finally got this done. Yay. Ok, I'll be completely honest. I ran out of motivation for this chapter towards the end and just couldn't get my self to just sit down and work on it until a short while ago. I don't know, maybe I'll take a break from my Harry Potter stories, they always seem to kill my inspiration for some reason… Probably has something to do with the fact I have three of them in the works. My bad. Oh well, I hope you people like this installment! Enjoy!**

**I do not own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter…. Just thought I'd remind everyone, I hadn't said that in a wile. Oh and don't forget to review!**

* * *

So far, Dani wasn't impressed. The Grangers had finally found time to go to Diagon Ally, which was apparently behind an old rickety building that seemed shady enough that Dani couldn't decide if it was a place to avoid at all cost or a place she could've gone before living with the Grangers because they didn't ask any questions. Either way, she was underwhelmed.

"The way you described it, Diagon Ally sounded like a theme park. Not a bar." Dani deadpanned.

"The Ally is _behind_ the pub. And it's called the Leaky Cauldron, an important piece of the Wizarding World." Hermione rebuffed with a huff.

"It's a bar thats a couple hundred years out of date." Dani said back, still deadpan. "Even if it hides Diagon Ally, it's shady as hell."

"Danielle! Language!" Elsa hissed as to not make a scene in the admittedly crowded street."

"Sorry Elsa." Dani replied automatically, more embarrassed for being caught. After a moment she asked "Why isn't anyone going in? It's in plain sight."

"The location is spelled so that Muggle's don't notice it. And even if they do they see a condemned building." Hermione explained with a sniff.

"Is that why Elsa and William look like they rather not go in?"

Glancing over to her parents Hermione noticed their obvious apprehension over the prospect of entering the building. "Yes." She answered simply.

"We can't really help it Dear." William said. "But I suppose that it's better to treat it like a bandage. The faster the better." With that William stepped forward, holding tightly to his wife's hand. Hermione and Dani followed bemused.

The inside was just as underwhelming as the outside. The inside of the Cauldron looked like a old time pub, with a bar complete with a bartender, tables with a few patrons enjoying their morning, and stairs leading up to the inn portion of the building. The only major difference from the message Dani had gotten from her first impressions of the outside of the establishment was that the inside almost felt like a home with its warm atmosphere.

"Ok. I'm still underwhelmed, but my impression of this place has changed." Dani commented only loud enough for Hermione to hear.

"Danielle! Don't be rude!" Hermione scolded, also only loud enough for Dani to hear.

"What? I was complementing it! It's nice." Dani defended herself. "Also you're taking this whole 'big sister' thing a little seriously."

Hermione bristled. "Well excuse me!" She said, still keeping in mind to keep the budding argument low key. "I'm still trying to get the hang of this."

"Yeah, I know. It's sweet of you." Dani admitted patting Hermione on the back. Neither of the younger girls noticed the two adults with them were smirking.

As the group stepped deeper into the pub Dani started to notice some differences with the patrons compared to the norm. For one, most everyone were wearing robes. As for the ones that weren't, Dani was pretty sure that they weren't even human. She was pretty positive in her assessment considering she's seen enough blood to recognize it, even if it's in a glass.

Before she could voice any form of comment, either of concern or curiosity, the Grangers made their way to the back door that led to a little outlet with brick walls. Again before Dani could post a question Hermione stepped forward with her wand drawn and traced a pattern over the far wall, like she was counting the bricks. Coming to the end of the pattern she tapped a brick with her wand, and Dani gasped. Now she was impressed.

With shops on all sides Diagon Ally was packed full of people. The main impressive thing was that it was all completely hidden from the outside world. Magic was starting to seem more awesome the more she saw. Then again, compared to moving pictures and spell books actually seeing the community would be freaking amazing!

"I knew you'd see what I meant when we got here." Hermione said with a self indulgent smirk.

"Ok. Point to you." Dani admitted. "He he. Now I get it." she added holding back giggles.

"Get what?" Hermione asked, wondering what was so funny.

"The name's delightfully puny." Dani explained, as she pointed up to the Diagon Ally sign. "Diagon Ally, diagonally... You know like the direction of a line?"

Hermione turned to look at the sign, tilted her head in thought, then finally face palmed and groaned. Dani chuckled at her reaction.

"Anyway, what's the plan?" Dani asked deciding to be merciful and setting Hermione's mind of something else besides the silly naming schemes of the Wizarding World.

Once more within her element, Hermione explained "It's not that different than shopping for school supplies other wise. It just has a magical flair to it."

Sighing, Dani said. "Thats nice and all, but I meant whats the actual plan for today. Scheduling, ya know?"

"We've got that covered." William said drawing the girls' attention to him. "Just stick close to us and we'll get through easily enough."

"So... We don't have a plan." Dani said, much to Williams chagrin.

"We do have a plan." Elsa said trying to reassure her husband. "First we're off to the magic bank."

"She means Gringotts, the large white building on the other side of the Ally." Hermione provided, pointing towards the shining building on the other end of Diagon Ally. Dani couldn't help but to let out a small sound of wonder at its site. Hermione couldn't help but to have a smug look about her at Dani's innocent action.

Even though it was still relatively early in the morning the crowd within the Ally was thick, and made the walk to Gringotts more of a bumpy shuffle. Dani silently wished she could use her ghost powers in public.

Finally, after what seemed much longer than it really was, the Grangers made it to the doors of the bank. "Is it always so crowded?" Dani asked no one, although Hermione chose to answer anyway.

"Not normally, but right now all of the Hogwarts students are getting their school supplies."

"...Makes sense." Dani answered after a moment. Thankfully the group finally made it through the worst of the crowd and climbed the stairs to the ivory building, and Dani saw something she wasn't really expecting to see. If only because she couldn't put a name to the mean looking little creature.

Noticing her new sister staring Hermione quickly informed Dani "Those are Goblins, they run the bank. Also it's better to not stare." Dani quickly looked away from the Goblin that was standing outside Gringotts, probably working as something like a greeter.

"They run the bank? I thought that it would be Wizards that run the place, considering that it's called the Wizarding Bank." Dani said.

"I don't rightly understand it myself." Hermione admitted, albeit with slight reluctance. "But Goblins do have some of the best standards for security as I understand it, and they never break a deal. As such, they're trusted to hold the wealth of Wizards." Somewhere during her explanation, Hermione's tone switched to what Dani calls her "lecturing tone." Normally Dani would feel that it was her sworn duty to point out when Hermione was being a bit of a know-it-all, but the warning that were engraved upon the silver secondary doors just seemed to just drive Hermione's point home.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

Dani would never call herself a poet, and her warnings always just seem to aggravate whomever she's trying to warn. Then she would just get into another needless fight. The Goblins' warning was subtle and to the point, basically saying that if you try to steal form this place you will die. It also seemed to have the weight of reputation to back it. Overall, anyone seeking to steal from Gringotts was either crazy or too stupid to live.

The inside of the bank was all polished marble and bustling Wizards. People were going to and fro, either depositing, withdrawing, or other things involving money. All of it was utterly boring to the young Danielle Fenton-Granger. The only thing that was even remotely interesting to her was the heavily armed giants that stood guard. Upon asking what they were Hermione whispered in her ear that they were Guard Trolls employed by the Goblins to act as the basic security for the bank. With her curiosity sated, Dani returned to trying to find something to quell her boredom. She didn't have much luck, and was very glad to be out of the bank once William and Elsa finally exchanged their money for wizarding currency.

Things sped up from there. Upon exiting Gringotts the group shuffled to the various shops they needed to go to. First was Madam Milkens Robes for All Occasions, where Hermione and Danielle enjoyed being almost being poked by needles while they were sized for their robes. Dani had it worse as she was actually getting brand new robes, where Hermione hadn't grown too terribly much and only needed a slight resizing. From there, Dani got to experience the wondrous sights and not so wondrous smells of the Apothecary, all while Hermione chattered on about what some of the weird ingredients could be used for. While they were looking at cauldrons, Dani had to wonder why there were so many. She also openly laughed at the broomstick store that showed off their product like some high end sports car.

Finally, after a few more stops, they made it to the one place that Dani was unknowingly excited to go to. Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. The store was a small looking shop that Dani didn't think would be so important to the wizarding community. Dani couldn't really understand it, she blamed the business savvy part of her, and for that she blamed Vlad. Something as important as wands should influence more people to try their hands at making them, if not attempts at mass production. Yet, contrary to what she thought of as common sense, there seemed to be only one wand maker, and one shop that sells wands in london.

The shop its self was pretty simple, with the front area cleared for customers with chairs, and the single window display. Once past the front counter, there were rows and rows of shelves filled with boxes that looked like they could've held shoes if they weren't too thin. Of course, one couldn't forget the dust. The place was dusty. Dani didn't have too long to observe the shop as William rang the service bell on the front desk, which quickly summoned the shop's proprietor.

Mr. Ollivander was a thin, silver haired man with what seemed to be overly large eyes behind a pair of glasses. His gaze quickly bounced from person to person, and when they landed on Dani she almost couldn't suppress a shiver. This guy immediately creeped her out, and she couldn't say why. "Ah, the young Miss. Granger. Dragon heartstring, vine wood, rather rigid. It is good to see you again, as well as the Mr, and Mrs Granger as well. Although, I don't recognize the other young lady.

"This is our other daughter, Danielle. She's here for her wand." Elsa said, unknowingly saving Dani from having to introduce her self to the creepy shop keeper.

"Excellent!" Ollivander said as he produced as measuring tape. "Which is your wand hand?"

A quick whisper from Hermione that he meant her dominant hand had Dani offering her right hand. As the tape started to work, by its self, Ollivander hurried to the back and quickly disappeared within the rows of shelves and boxes. Thankfully, just as the automatic measuring tape was starting to get over zealous the old man returned with several boxes stacked in his arms.

"Each Ollivander wand uses a core of a powerful magical substance: unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, or dragon heartstring. No two wands are the same, just as no two dragons, unicorns, or phoenix are the same." He handed Dani a wand. "The witch doesn't choose the wand, the wand chooses the witch. This one is holly, dragon heartstring, ten inches."

Dani took hold of the offered wand, and not knowing what else to do waved it a bit. Nothing happened, "Well, that wasn't the one." Ollivander said as he took back the wand and offered a new one. The process continued: Dani was handed a wand, told what it was made from, she gave it a wave, the wand either reacted violently or not at all, rinse and repeat.

Weirdly enough, Ollivander seemed to be having a fun time of it. In fact, he was openly grinning when he came back the second time with a stack of boxed wands for her to try out. "Let us try this one. Phoenix tail feather, elm, 9 1/2 inches." The moment Dani touched this wand, she knew that something was different. Particularly, when the other energy fluttered in what Dani could guess would be excitement. The wand reacted as well, spouting a shower of colorful sparks and them whisking them away on a gentle breeze. After the spectacle was over Ollivander was openly smiling, and so were everyone else in the room. "I do believe we have found you your wand Miss. Granger." He stepped behind the counter, near the register and said "Now, that will be seven Galleons."

William paid the man seven of gold coins and the group left. Dani wouldn't let go of her now boxed wand. She didn't even know that she was excited about getting a wand until after she had managed to actually get one. Her excitement died violently when the group got to the book store, Flourish and Blotts, and she saw the crazy line.

"Why don't you two go in there and get your books, we'll wait out here." Elsa suggested with an easy smile.

"Yeah. Thats a good idea. Besides we know how much you like to look at new books, Hermione." William added, holding his wife close. "Just make sure to keep an eye on Danielle. Well be over there looking at things." As the adults left Dani was left gobsmacked. They both got out of having to suffer through the line for the book store like it was nothing, and before Dani could even comment on it, they were walking off leaving the two girls to their fate.

Dani was impressed.

And just because she was impressed didn't mean that she liked the fact that she was basically forced to suffer through a line for a book signing of all things. As sly as William and Elsa were, she would get them back for this. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour of just taking measly steps they finally made it into the store proper. Inside they were finally able to break away from the line to get to actually shop for what they needed. Which was luckily only one set of books as Dani was getting Hermione's old ones from the year before... Why was Dani stuck having to go through the line again.

Dani was drawn from her hatred of her current situation when Hermione made a confused sound. "What is it?" She asked when she turned around to see Hermione slightly frowning at her school list.

"It's just that... Well there's a odd set of books that are on the list." Hermione said as she turned the list over to Dani, showing her the offending required reading. It was a series of books written by the same guy.

"Lockhart?" Dani said raising an eye brow. "Isn't that the guy doing the book signing?"

"Is it?" Hermione looked somewhat excited. If there was one thing that Dani learned abut Hermione's personality it would that she loved her books, and in extension she tended to put the authors of said books on pedestals. The quickly moved to where the bulk of the crowd was gathered, and caught their first look at one Gilderoy Lockhart.

He had blond wavy hair, shining teeth to go with a stunning smile, blue eyes, and the most flamboyant robes that Dani's ever seen. He would've been good looking, if Dani was thirty. Yet, currently, she was unimpressed. The guy looked like a complete fop. It didn't help that he was also using a kid about her age–who looked like he would rather be anywhere else–for publicity.

"Oh. Poor Harry." Hermione said looking slightly embarrassed along side the kid.

"You know him?" Dani asked as the boy finally escaped with a complete set of Lockhart's books, which he promptly gave to a redheaded girl who was standing by a bunch of other red heads.

"He's a friend from school." Hermione answered before she walked forward and called "Harry! Ron!"

Harry and one of the red heads turned towards them, and greeted her back. "Hermione! What're you doing here?" The red head, Ron, said.

"Shopping for school supplies of course."

"Oh. Right." Ron at least had the grace to look slightly embarrassed from his dumb question. Of course that only lasted until he noticed Dani. "Who's that?"

"This is Danielle, my sister." Hermione responded.

"I don't see it." Ron said after a minute of looking at Dani, who was starting to see a pattern with this guy. She decided to answer on her own behalf.

"The Grangers adopted me." Dani said matter-of-fact.

"Oh." This time Ron didn't have the grace to look embarrassed. "Well, nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Harry said finally finding a spot to jump in.

Hermione slapped her forehead "Where are my manners? Dani, these are my friends from school. Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

This had to be an awkward conversation, but Dani decided that it was better to just roll with it. Besides, first meetings were always awkward. "Right. I'm Danielle Fe... Granger." Better to not bring attention to the fact that she wasn't used to her new last name... Or the fact that she really didn't know how to refer to her self with the multiple last name thing. "Nice to meet you guys."

"So, Potter. Just can't stay out of the lime light eh?" Dani frowned as she turned with the rest of the group to confront the voice that had interrupted them. The voice belonged to a boy their age with platinum blond hair and a sneer plastered on his face. Next to him was a tall man with the same shade of hair, only longer, that was looking done his nose at them. He also had a sneer.

"Now, now Draco. No need to be rude." The tall man said, obviously the boy's father. Dani immediately disliked the man, too rich to be touched, and a rather large superiority complex he reminded her too much of a certain fruitloop for her liking. It didn't help matters much when he turned his attention to Harry. "Ah yes. The famous Harry Potter. Draco has said... Much about you."

"I'm sure he has." Harry managed to reply despite looking very uncomfortable. Dani could share his sentiment.

"Yes. He's also spoken about the others as well." The man looked to Ron "A Weasley," he turned to Hermione "and a Muggle-born." The man then sneered what Dani would have to place one of the top five sneers she's ever seen. "Interesting company to be sure."

Thankfully the conversation–although it was more like veiled animosity within polite words–was interrupted by the arrival of another adult. The new arrival had thinning red hair making him most likely to be a Weasley. Probably Ron's father. "Ah, Ron there you are, your mother's almost done..." Mr. Weasley trailed off when he spotted Draco's father. The moment the two locked eye's Dani could sense a mutual hatred, this probably wasn't going to end well. "Lucius."

"Arthur... What a... Pleasant surprise." Lucius commented, barely holding back a scowl.

Arthur didn't have such restraint as his scowl was pretty plain on his face. "Yes. A surprise. Well best to be back to it. School shopping and all that."

"Of course. Your youngest is finally going to Hogwarts correct?" Lucius glanced at Ron's sister "I hope she doesn't have it too hard, supplies can be quite expensive."

"I can provide for my family just fine." Arthur almost growled out, and he was steadily starting to turn red.

"No doubt of course." Dani gently pulled Hermione back a couple of steps. Things were starting to get heated and Dani had a pretty good guess what was bound to happen. It looked like the other kids were at least slightly aware of it as well, as they were starting to look more and more uncomfortable as the conversation between the two adult continued. Even the crowd around them were starting to notice as the veiled insults became continually less subtle.

Dani didn't catch what started it, she had stopped listening as they started to get more and more angry, but eventually Arthur lunged at Lucius, knocking over a book shelf in the process as things came to blows. It was pretty chaotic, the red heads were cheering on their dad, Harry looked gobsmacked, Hermione was scandalized, and Draco didn't seem to know how to react to the situation. Thankfully things were quickly stopped as the biggest man Dani had ever seen appeared and separated the two brawlers, one in each hand.

"What the blazes gotten in't you two." The giant bellowed. He had long hair with a matching beard, small black eyes and was wearing some type of animal skin coat.

"Unhand me!" Lucius snarled, thrashing a bit to try to get out of the giants grip, who ended up letting him go. With out a word edge wise Lucius straightened out his robes, motioned Draco to follow, and promptly left. The giant let Arthur down, who then slumped slightly. He then went ramrod straight when his name was called as a matronly, again with red hair, woman came out of the crowd and started to drill into him. It was probably his wife.

Luckily for those two Lockhart drew the crowds attention to himself, saying something that Dani chose to ignore. Dani figured if the dandy wanted the attention he could have it, and that didn't mean that she had to give her attention.

It also wasn't long before they were collected by William and Elsa. Hermione said her good byes to her friends and Dani politely waved farewell. On the ride home, Dani couldn't help but admit to herself that it was an interesting day.

She wondered if magic school was just as fun.

* * *

**Right. Almost forgot to mention something else. To those that noticed that I didn't get the fight scene quite right, or that the dialogue was sort of skimped over… I couldn't remember what actually started the fight between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy. I don't actually own Chamber of Secrets, yet I _do_ own the rest of the series. I know; silly.**

**But… Yeah. I'm going to probably end up winging most of the ****scenes that also occur in the book proper, mainly because I can't remember what actually happens in all of them. So please bear with me.**

**Anyway, that's the end of the A.N. REVIEW!**


End file.
